Sioux Falls is growing like a tree, but does it need pruning?

Unlike some regional growth centers in the Upper Midwest, Sioux
Falls' expansion has not focused in one general direction or area
of the city. Rather, the city has grown concentrically, like a tree,
according to Don Seten, urban planner for Sioux Falls' Department
of Planning and Building Services.

Sioux Falls does not have "leapfrog" communities developing outside
the city limits that are stressing city infrastructure, or development
that is necessarily restricted by boundaries. All in all, the city's
growth is well-managed, Seten says, and urban sprawl is definitely
not a term that applies to Sioux Falls.

However, Seten says that some might interpret the growth of South
Dakota's largest city as sprawling. In 1970, with a population of
72,000, the city covered 27 square miles; today, the city has nearly
doubled to 50 square miles to support 115,000. Also, in the older,
central portions of the city with traditional grid streets, there
are five to six housing units per acre; in the newly developed fringe
areas there are two-and-a-half units per acre on nonthrough, curvilinear
streets.

In other words, as Sioux Falls grows it is using more land to accommodate
fewer people. "In that sense," Seten acknowledges, "we are sprawling."

Source: Sioux Falls Planning Department

However, that doesn't mean Sioux Falls is experiencing the type
of sprawl that is associated with larger cities. Most growing cities
experience residential development that "thins out" at the peripheries,
Seten says, but what is special about Sioux Falls is that it has
a growth management plan that has been in effect since the 1970s.
And that plan has been working, according to Mike Cooper, assistant
director of the city's Planning and Building Services.

"We don't have urban sprawl like other communities," Cooper says.
"The plan of the 1970s was implemented to a 'T.' Today's city limits
almost perfectly match the '70s projections," Cooper says. The growth
management plan essentially established where developers could expect
to receive city infrastructure: If a developer had ideas about an
area where the city wasn't ready to commit, the city would say "no,"
according to Cooper.

There are areas on the fringes of Sioux Falls that are "ready and
ripe" for development, Seten says, but the city will insist on concentric
development. And it will do that by managing placement of sewer
and water lines. "It's just like the old saying," Seten says, "Growth
follows the pipe."

But a good growth management plan isn't worth much without the
support of the community, Cooper says, and in that respect Sioux
Falls has been lucky. "We have a pretty good relationship with the
developers," Cooper says, adding that local developers have accepted
the plan since its inception.

And the city has also received support from Minnehaha County, which
passed stricter development policies about 10 years ago, and Lincoln
County, which did the same last year. In Lincoln County, which encompasses
Sioux Falls' southern expansion, the county and city have a co-review
process for new development, according to Seten. There are still
undeveloped lots in rural, unincorporated areas outside Sioux Falls
that were cleared in the 1970s, Cooper says, and the counties-which
must supply road management and law enforcement-are trying to take
control of such development.

Sioux Falls is expected to continue its strong population growth
of over 2 percent, leading to about 156,000 in 2015, Seten says,
but the city doesn't expect the growth to bring any infrastructure
problems, especially regarding sewer and water. The city has a sewage
treatment capacity of 169,000.

At the worst, lack of plentiful water may begin to limit growth
in 20 years, Seten says. However, South Dakota and neighboring states
are currently negotiating about the possible construction of a pipeline
from the Missouri; in addition, a reservoir north of the city is
expected to meet water demands in the coming years.

"There are pressures on the horizon, but nothing in the next five
years," Seten says.